White House Christmas tree a symbol of resilience for hurricane-hit North Carolina farms

The Cartner family had known since last year that one of their farm’s Christmas trees would be headed to the White House this winter.

But then Hurricane Helene struck, unleashing a deadly deluge across western North Carolina, including Avery County, where Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm has stood for decades. Though the farm lost thousands of trees to a mudslide, many more survived, including a 20-foot conical tree that dwarfs most of the others on the sprawling farm.

That one will soon be cut down, lifted by a crane and put on a truck bound for the nation's capital.

“We wanted to really be an uplifting symbol for the other farmers and other people in western North Carolina that have experienced so many losses," said Sam Cartner Jr., one of three brothers who owns the farm.

From the back of the farm property, where the White House tree is located, it's hard to see the extent of Helene's damage. Countless rows of dark green trees stand in formation, contrasting against the lighter, mossy green shade of the rolling hills. It's mostly quiet, aside from chirping birds and rustling leaves.

As Cartner ventures back to the front of the property in his SUV, the damage from Helene comes into view. A section of one of the grassy hills looks like it was clawed out to expose the brown earth beneath it — the aftermath of a mudslide that took out between 5,000 to 6,000 trees, Cartner said. Luckily, those trees were smaller and not market-size, meaning it wasn't an immediate problem for this harvest season, he said.

Culverts and gullies on the property were also washed out from the storm, making immediate access to certain parts of the farm treacherous. It took a few weeks to fill in the dirt roads twisting through the farm, Cartner said, but it could have been much worse.

“We're looking forward to a relatively normal harvest,” Cartner said. “Others will have a much harder time.”

The biggest challenge for Christmas tree farmers across western North Carolina has been fixing infrastructure on their property, including roads, said Jennifer Greene, North Carolina Christmas Tree Association executive director. Despite tree losses on some farms, Greene said farmers across the region — who harvest between 4-5 million Christmas trees annually — are persevering. She doesn't anticipate Helene's damage drastically affecting this harvest season, but it's still uncertain how the devastation will affect future seasons.

“They're resourceful, and you know, so they're going to find a way, you know, to make it happen,” Greene said of the area's Christmas tree farmers. “I mean, they have to.”

From a small farm to sprawling acres of Christmas trees

Cartner's parents, Sam and Margaret Cartner, founded the farm in 1959, where they grew Fraser firs, a tree species indigenous to the Appalachians. They later passed the farm on to Cartner Jr. and his two brothers.

The farm started off small, raising cows, cabbage and beans alongside the Fraser firs, Cartner said. The family initially planted their trees on the steepest field because they didn't want to use up their best land for them, Cartner said.

Now, Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm has grown to about 500 planted acres of land. Most of the farm’s business is selling wholesale to independent garden centers and stores around the country.

Their staffing operation is also much larger, as the farm employs temporary workers from Mexico to continue the year-round duties of maintaining the land, such as trimming trees. The task in recent days has been loading trees of various sizes into trailers ready to ship.

“We say we've touched a tree over 100 times by the time it gets to the consumer, and that's all manual labor,” Cartner said.

Selecting the right tree for the White House

All of that work led to Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm being named the 2024 grand champion at the National Christmas Tree Association's contest. Winning the competition traditionally means the champion will supply the White House's official Christmas tree that year.

The visit to Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm by White House staff was initially delayed because of damaged roads, Greene said. When the staff made their selection in late October, they adorned their tree of choice with a red, white and blue ribbon that was larger than a basketball, Cartner said.

The selected tree is about 25 years old and weighs between 400 to 500 pounds (180 to 230 kilograms) — so heavy that a crane will be brought in to bring the tree to its transport truck ahead of its travels to Washington. Its “wonderful verdant color” and short limbs were just a few reasons Cartner listed off that may have drawn White House staff to the tree, in addition to meeting certain size requirements for display.

Cartner and his family will present the tree to First Lady Jill Biden in front of the White House. Then, Cartner said they plan to return in December to see it decorated in the White House's Blue Room.

Cartner's tree represents hope for western North Carolina

While the buzz about the White House Christmas tree has been exciting, Cartner said he will be “glad to have all this behind us.” It's been a tough year because of Helene, and harvest season is already difficult enough as is, he said.

“You've got to cut and ship that number of trees in two to three weeks, you put a hurricane on top of that, White House tree and all the activities, it gets almost overwhelming,” he said.

And work has already begun for next year. The farm has some obstacles to overcome, including finding places to buy seedlings after Helene devastated some greenhouses. There's also paperwork to fill out for workers to return to the farm next season, as well as several orders to make for fertilizer and insecticide.

It's a large-scale operation that has come a long way from when Cartner's parents started it. While his parents wouldn't have liked all the attention the farm has received, Cartner said they would be proud that they were representing western North Carolina during a time of hardship for many after Helene.

“They would want this tree to represent the faith, and hope, and love, and joy and family and generosity, all those good things of mankind that we need to stop and recognize,” he said.